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The Toronto Marlies dropped their fourth straight away from home on Wednesday night in Utica.

This was a game the Marlies should have won, but a combination of squandered opportunities, average goaltending and some poor discipline cost them the two points.

First Period

The Comets came roaring out the gate, hemming Toronto in their own end for the opening 33 seconds and drawing a penalty in the process. Despite a less-than-ideal start, the Marlies managed to open the scoring while down a man.

Brendan Leipsic picked off a pass in the neutral zone before streaking away on a 2-on-1. The AHL’s leading points scorer ignored his teammate, firing low past Thatcher Demko’s glove.

With a penalty still left to kill, debutant Karri Ramo got off to a bright start, making three saves as Toronto successfully survived the penalty.

Back at even strength, the line of Rychel-Cliche-Clune picked up where they left off last game, combining to tee up Viktor Loov, whose rebound eluded the three forwards. On the same shift, Rychel’s effort from the right side caught a piece of Demko as well as the post.

Utica’s sole chance at even strength in the first ten minutes came courtesy of a coast-to-coast rush from Jordan Subban. He skated clear of trouble down the right wing before ripping a wicked wrist shot that Ramo couldn’t hold onto, but the Marlies defense cleaned up the rebound.

Toronto’s first powerplay of the game failed to produce but it wasn’t for a lack of attempts on net. Rychel and Dymtro Timashov were both denied by Demko before a long-range effort from Andrew Campbell led to a mad scramble in front, but no one in blue could lay a stick on a loose puck bouncing in the crease. That was something of a theme in this game as the Marlies didn’t receive much in the way of puck luck.

What the Marlies could have controlled was the tying goal, however. Two quick-fire passes from Alexandre Grenier and Pascal Pelletier from inside their own zone took all five Marlies skaters out of play, sending Marco Roy on a breakaway from the red line in. Travis Dermott was the nearest defender, but he could do nothing as Roy shot early from just inside the left circle, beating Ramo glove side with the goaltender slightly out of position.

The Marlies pushed back after conceding as both Rychel and Rich Clune tested Demko. Kasperi Kapanen had the best chance to restore Toronto’s lead after orchestrating his own breakaway down the right side. He cut across Demko and had the goaltender down and out but couldn’t lift the puck over his Demko’s outstretched pad.

A Marlies powerplay to end the period led to just the one opportunity for Andreas Johnsson. Demko once again came up big for the Comets, deflecting the top-shelf attempt wide of goal.

Second Period

The middle frame was a bruising 20 minutes for Toronto. They lost Milan Michalek and Brendan Leipsic to injury, took too many penalties, and gave up 17 shots on goal over the 20 minutes.

Ramo was forced into action early, making an unorthodox save on Wacey Hamilton’s backhand attempt before using his blocker to turn aside John Negrin. With the Marlies on their heels, Campbell turned the tide as he led the Marlies’ first foray into the offensive zone. Toronto drew a penalty before regaining the lead.

After several near misses from a multitude of players, Johnsson fired a backhand top shelf from in tight. It was rough justice for Demko, who stood on his head during the penalty kill.

The Marlies could easily have extended their advantage afterwards but the opportunities came and went. Leipsic’s speed took him around the Utica defense but he made the wrong pass-shot selection. He did shoot moments later, forcing an awkward save out of Demko, who clung onto the puck with Lindberg positioned for a rebound.

Part of the learning curve in the AHL is learning to deal with noted aggressors who look to goad opponents into ill-advised penalties. Dmytro Timashov was given his lesson after taking a holding penalty on noted pest Andrey Pedan. Toronto killed the penalty, with Ramo making one save of note on Subban, who was orchestrating everything good about his team’s powerplay.

The Marlies were again driving the play back at even strength, but Leipsic couldn’t beat Demko on a beautiful feed by Byron Froese from below the goal line. Not only was Demko making some big-time saves, he was giving out very few second opportunities in the process.

Halfway through the period, another Marlies rookie, this time Andrew Nielsen, took a penalty and it proved costly. Just 11 seconds remained on the penalty kill when Jake Virtanen scored on a second attempt, roofing the puck after the initial effort hit the post and trickled along the goal line.

A chance for the Marlies to respond on a powerplay of their own was then negated by Nielsen’s second straight infraction. Guilty of overplaying the puck at the blue line, he was stripped by Hamilton and forced into a trip to deny a breakaway.

Utica was dominant during 4-on-4 play, nearly building themselves a lead. Curtis Valk was denied of a breakaway goal by a flying save from Ramo, but the refs called a penalty shot for a hook on the play. Ramo came up with a right pad save to deny Valk again and keep the score level.

Barring his earlier penalty, Timashov was arguably having his best game as a Marlie but he couldn’t solve Demko with 2:40 remaining.

Toronto could consider themselves hard done by in the final minutes of the period as the Comets should have been on the receiving end of a couple of penalties.

Kapanen was lucky to escape serious injury after getting targeted by Andrey Pedan behind the Utica net. One nasty hit from behind was followed by another, with the second looking particularly dangerous; Kapanen was hunched over along the boards trying to recover from the initial contact and appeared to have his head slammed against the wall.

Marc-André Cliche didn’t hesitate about jumping in to protect his teammate, drawing two minutes for roughing, while Pedan was fortunate to only receive a double minor for roughing and boarding.

Third Period

The resulting powerplay carried over into the third period, but Toronto was unable to force themselves ahead for a third time.

Despite a shortened bench, opportunities were there for the taking for the Marlies. A turnover gifted Lindberg a scoring chance, but Demko produced a low glove save.

With Utica on the powerplay three minutes into the period, Toronto’s penalty kill was looking far better than it has in recent weeks, holding Utica off the board once more and giving the team some momentum back at even strength.

Smith and Timashov combined to tee up Lindberg at the backdoor, but he couldn’t get enough on his effort to solve Demko. Timashov was in the middle of it again, this time creating a turnover and a sustained spell of o-zone pressure. A booming shot from Campbell was blocked in front and managed to land in the one spot no Toronto player was situated in front of goal.

Pedan sold a roughing call to send Colin Greening to the box near the midway point of the period, but it was negated shortly after. Kapanen was again the target of a boarding penalty, with the Comets’ Pascal Pelletier the guilty party.

The brief powerplay almost paid dividends for the Marlies as a 3-on-2 break developed with Greening exiting the box. Rychel’s low shot across goal produced a rebound that once more eluded everyone in blue.

With a little under five minutes left to play, Toronto iced the puck and it came back to haunt them. Utica kept the puck alive in the offensive zone as a tired Marlies group scrambled to clear. Subban released a dipping shot, but there appeared to be no serious danger with no traffic in front and a clear sightline for the goaltender. Inexplicably, the shot beat Ramo five-hole and trickled across the goal line.

Borna Rendulic almost iced the game for the home team after receiving a pass in the slot, but Ramo bounced back with a top-notch save.

After playing a tremendous third period with a shortened bench, the weak goal seemed to deflate the visitors. Despite the Marlies pulling Ramo with two minutes left to play, the Comets never looked in any danger of relinquishing the lead, comfortably holding on even after icing the puck inside the final 30 seconds.

It was far from the worst road performance from the Marlies, who were worthy of at least a point, but they continue to find ways to lose on the road.


Post Game Notes

– Andreas Johnsson has five goals this season — all scored on the powerplay — and four of them have come against the Utica Comets.

– Now riding a three-game point streak, Kerby Rychel is building some confidence. He’s shot the puck more in his last two games (13) than in his previous nine games combined.

– Rinat Valiev had one of his better games of the season, posing a threat offensively with a season-high six shots on goal.

– In his return from an ankle injury, Travis Dermott justifiably appeared rusty on occasion, but overall it was a positive reintroduction for the rookie defenceman.

– An assist from Kasperi Kapanen extends his point streak to four games. While he put just the one shot on goal, he seemed none the worse for wear after withstanding a lot of punishment in this game.

– It feels harsh to criticize a goaltender who is returning from a long-term injury — and who made 33 saves — but ultimately Karri Ramo cost Toronto the game. The first and third goals, especially the fourth, were on him. He did manage to pull off some nice saves in between, but it was an inauspicious start overall.

– Brendan Leipsic and Milan Michalek were both unable to finish this game due to injury. Sheldon Keefe expects both to be fine moving forward on the road trip.

– Toronto’s road record has fallen to 3-6-1-1 and they’ve only managed to score more than two goals in four of those 11 games.


Game Highlights


Sheldon Keefe Post Game


Game Sheet – Comets 3 vs. Marlies 2

SKATERGAPIMShots+/-
Campbell, Andrew00020
Valiev, Rinat00060
Holl, Justin00000
Loov, Viktor0000-1
Nielsen, Andrew00400
Dermott, Travis0000-1
Smith, Colin0001-1
Froese, Byron00030
Johnsson, Andreas10260
Clune, Richard00200
Michalek, Milan0000-1
Leipsic, Brendan10051
Cliche, Marc-Andre00210
Kapanen, Kasperi0101-1
Rychel, Kerby01060
Lindberg, Tobias0001-1
Greening, Colin00200
Timashov, Dmytro0022-1